Month: January 2023

Source: United States Navy

Spencer’s port visit will also coincide with the arrival of Vice Adm. Thomas Ishee, commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet. While in Lomé, Ishee will meet with senior Togolese leaders to strengthen relations and discuss regional stability and security through maritime cooperation.

“The maritime operations and visit by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spencer directly supports the United States’ shared interest with our African partner nations to ensure security, safety, and freedom of navigation surrounding the continent,” said Ishee. “I am excited to further our maritime partnership and pursue areas of cooperation with Togo as we work toward accomplishing our shared goals in the Gulf of Guinea.”

U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Fitzsimmons and members of the U.S. mission to Togo will also join the bilateral discussions. Fitzsimmons recently traveled to Naples, Italy to visit U.S. Sixth Fleet headquarters and discuss increased opportunities for U.S.-Togo maritime efforts in November 2022.

“The growing cooperation between the United States and Togo, in terms of security and safety of African waters, play an essential role in the growth of the continent and therefore of the world,” said Fitzsimmons. “I am proud to welcome the United States Coast Guard Cutter Spencer, which is an example of the U.S. maritime security commitment to the region.”

Spencer’s visit to Lomé demonstrates the long-standing commitment and partnership between the U.S. and African partners to counter illicit maritime activity in the Atlantic Ocean.

During their visit, Spencer’s crew, consisting of approximately 100 crew members, will engage in professional exchanges and exercises with the Togolese Navy and Armed Forces, including joint maritime patrols with Togolese vessels. Crew members will also participate in maritime law enforcement engagements and community service activities.

“I am looking forward to working with our Togolese counterparts on building strategies against maritime piracy and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing,” said Cmdr. Corey Kerns, commanding officer of Spencer.

Spencer supports the United States Coast Guard’s maritime law enforcement and search and rescue missions. The vessel has a length of 90 meters and a minimum light draft of 7 meters.

U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area, headquartered in Portsmouth, Virginia, oversees all Coast Guard operations east of the Rocky Mountains to the Arabian Gulf, spanning across five Coast Guard districts and 40 states.

For over 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.

Source: United States Navy

MAKO Challenge is one in a series of Chief of Navy Reserve-directed training evolutions specifically designed to give Reserve members hands-on experience within the MOC before they actually show up to a certification or real-world event. It’s training for Reserve Sailors, by Reserve Sailors.

“The goal is for every MOC warfighter to be ready to step off the plane and into their work center, know where their seat is, plug in their card and get to work from minute one,” said Rear Adm. Grant Mager, Operational Level of War (OLW) line of effort lead. “Our Active Duty counterparts get that on-the-job training all year and we’re expected to be just as ready and just as proficient.”

The Navy Reserve’s Strategic Depth Assessment identified key areas of interest for the Navy’s overall investment with the Reserve Force. According to senior leaders and the results of the assessment, qualified and competent MOC watch standers was one of the most prominent “needs” from the Navy Fleets and Strategic Commands.

According to Mager, the Navy Reserve makes up approximately half of the staff at Fleet commands. “It’s one thing if maybe 10 percent of the command is still learning their role, but when we make up 50 percent of the total force, we need to be ready to go,” he said.

That is why Vice Adm. John B. Mustin, chief of Navy Reserve and commander, Navy Reserve Force, has made MOC training – and the MAKO series in particular – a top priority under the OLW line of effort in the Navy Reserve Fighting Instructions. The other “MAKOs” include Pacific Fleet’s MAKO Sentry and Navy Central Command’s MAKO Storm.

“I couldn’t be more excited to see all of you here working together, learning, participating, and doing the hard work,” Mustin said during his visit to MAKO Challenge 23. “These exercises bring all the right constituents together for focused real-world simulation. I want each of you to view this with a sense of urgency, bring value to the team, and get qualified. Our Active Duty counterparts need to know that we are ready to do what is required on day one.”

As approximately 200 Reserve Sailors participated on the watch floor at NWDC for MAKO Challenge 23, either in a planner and mentor capacity or a qualifying trainee, several senior leaders walked the deck plates to witness the training firsthand and express their enthusiastic support for the valuable training opportunity.

“At Fleet Forces, we’re counting on you for support, and the training provided in these exercises are excellent simulations to practice and learn your jobs,” said Vice Adm. Jim Kilby, deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

Kilby repeatedly stressed the importance of a ready Reserve Force within the MOC and Mager agreed the Reserves have a unique capability to not only support in MOC watch standing but potentially become the experts.

Mager believes that the Reserve Force has the ability to develop a deep expertise in this skillset because it has the units and the billets to support a career within the MOC. While only a small percentage of Active Duty might do one tour at a Fleet level command where they get qualified to stand watch in the MOC, Reserve Sailors and officers have the option to do back-to-back or return to Fleet duty at multiple points in their career without hurting their advancement or career growth.

“This means we have the ability to become the MOC experts for the Navy,” said Mager. “We are the capacity that allows the Fleet to go to war.”

With this being the sixth iteration within the MAKO series, leaders and participants all agreed the communication, flow, and overall performance is growing and improving with every evolution.

“This [MAKO Challenge] is the most complex, the largest, and has the most participants by a factor of three,” said Kilby. “We’ve seen a massive increase with each one and what we’re doing here is driving the capacity to make qualified watch standers. It’s a great opportunity to train, get competent, and learn your job.”

Participants like Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Shelleen Ramirez, a Reserve Sailor assigned to USFF and local to Norfolk, had the opportunity to stand watch for more than one iteration and has seen that improvement as a message writer in training.

“We’ve come a long way since the last MAKO exercise, but we still have some room to grow, especially with communication,” said Ramirez. “We just want to be more proactive instead of reactive so we can better help the Battle Watch Captain.”

Ramirez and her counterparts spent a lot of time and energy compiling lessons learned and areas of improvement to transfer to the next iteration.

More than anything, Ramirez appreciates the opportunity the MAKO series provides to step out of the Reserve Center for a long drill weekend of real-world training – a top priority for Vice Adm. Mustin, that every minute a Reserve member is in uniform they are training to their mobilization billet.

“It’s so much better than your typical drill weekend.” said Ramirez. “I’m doing something very useful. Doing something like this makes it all worthwhile.”

Source: United States Navy

SCSTC is part of the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), led by Rear Adm. Pete Garvin. With over 6,500 staff and students across 12 global locations, SCSTC delivers training to 35,000 U.S. Navy Sailors as well as 700 international Sailors from 22 partner nations annually. With surface community partners and force development counterparts, SCSTC provides system and platform specific combat systems training to a growing surface Navy. Their overall mission is to train the fleet so that our Navy can fight and win!

In alignment with the previous year’s theme, the 2023 SNA National Symposium theme was “Getting Ready: Sharpening Our Competitive Edge,” which emphasized readiness and maintaining the Surface Force Competitive Edge.

“How we train our warfighters directly impacts combat readiness,” explained Capt. George A. Kessler, Jr., SCSTC’s commodore. “SNA attendees were able to get a firsthand look at how SCSTC is ensuring our warfighters possess the tactical and technical competence and proficiency needed to execute the mission across the spectrum of operations in today’s challenging environment.”

SCSTC’s exhibit showcased Surface Training Advanced Virtual Environment – Combat Systems (STAVE-CS) / Ready Relevant Training (RRL) training solutions to include the Aegis Virtual Maintenance Trainer (VMT), Sonar Dome Rubber Window (SDRW) VMT, Aegis Computer Network Technician (ACNT) Part-Task Trainer (PTT), and M240 Bravo Machine Gun and 9mm Multiple Interactive Learning Objective (MILO) demonstrations. These trainers are part of the Director, Surface Warfare’s (OPNAV N96) program of record, STAVE-CS, which was introduced in 2015 as a means to provide better quality training resulting in more rapid qualifications of our Sailors.

“Strategic competition at sea is not an amorphous concept but an everyday reality,” Kessler said. “Training must pace combat systems modernization and therefore, SCSTC is adapting and implementing innovative ways to train our future warfighting force such as delivering STAVE training systems to the waterfront. We are providing the high-end tactical training needed to guarantee our warfighters are ready to execute the mission – whenever, and wherever called.”

Mr. Brian Deters, SCSTC’s executive director, says teamwork was key for this all hands’ strategic communications effort.

“SNA National 2023 was an incredible display of teamwork between headquarters and our learning sites, SCSTC AEGIS Training and Readiness Center, SCSTC San Diego, and SCSTC Great Lakes; Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division Dam Neck Activity; and our industry partners,” he said. “We educated a large population of military, government, and industry personnel about our vital RRL and STAVE-CS training solutions and demonstrated that our warfighters are prepared to deter, fight and win.”

Surface Navy Association (SNA) was incorporated in 1985 to promote greater coordination and communication among those in the military, business, and academic communities who share a common interest in Surface Warfare while supporting the activities of Surface Forces.

For information on the Surface Navy Association, visit
http://www.navysna.org/

For information about the Surface Combat Systems Training Command, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/SCSTC

Visit SCSTC on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SurfaceCombatSystemsTrainingCommand

Source: United States Navy

The 17 JMSDF officers are students of the JMSDF Intermediate Class Submarine Officer’s Course at JMSDF’s Submarine Training Center in Kure, Japan. The briefs and tour of CTF 74 stressed the importance of U.S.-Japan bilateral submarine force cooperation and provided insight as to the multiple career paths for submarine officers within the U.S. Navy.

“This was a great opportunity for the JMSDF junior officers to see firsthand the operations of CTF 74, and the important role they play within the U.S. 7th Fleet command structure,” said Cmdr. KUBO Takayuki, JMSDF Liaison Officer to CTF 74. “I am fortunate to work alongside CTF 74 leadership every day, but for these students, it was important for them to come and get an understanding of submarine operations here in person.”

Rear Adm. Rick Seif, commander, Submarine Group 7, provided a command brief to the students, describing the CSG 7 area of responsibility as well as the impact of the submarine force around the world.

Lt. Cmdr. Jasen Hicks, CTF 74 N5/N7 exercise safety officer, provided a brief on the required educational curriculum and differing career paths for U.S. Navy submarine officers.

“The U.S.-Japanese Alliance is as strong as ever, and Submarine Group 7 has always enjoyed a great relationship with our JMSDF submarine force Allies,” said Hicks. “Having this group of students come visit and learn about the career path for U.S. submarine officers was a pleasure, and I am confident they will benefit from seeing how we operate here at CTF 74 and how closely our combined undersea forces work together.”

With two classes of students undergoing studies each year, the JMSDF Intermediate Class Submarine Officer’s Course is designed to cultivate professional submarine officers, with the goal of them continuing their careers and eventually becoming a commanding officer of a Japanese submarine.

The class that visited CTF 74 is scheduled to finish their curriculum next month. Upon graduation, the JMSDF officers will be assigned as a submarine department head.

Submarine Group 7 is responsible for coordinating a diverse fleet of submarines, surface ships and aircraft deployed to the Western Pacific and the Middle East; forward-deployed submarine tenders and fast-attack submarines homeported in Guam; Submarine Squadron 21 in Bahrain; five ocean surveillance ships when tasked for theater anti-submarine warfare operations, and two oceanographic survey vessels. Under CSG 7 are two task forces: CTF 74 and CTF 54, which provide theater anti-submarine warfare support from the Red Sea to the International Date Line.

For more news from Commander, Submarine Group 7, visit www.csp.navy.mil/csg7/

Source: United States Navy

Roosevelt, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is currently on its fourth Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E) patrol.

Roosevelt and Viesīte came together in the Baltic Sea to conduct four exercises involving advanced signaling and maneuvering techniques. Both ships had the opportunity to conduct practice replenishment-at-sea approaches to the other ship, each time closing to a lateral separation of less than 200 feet. The crews also participated in a towing exercise and communications exercises.

Roosevelt transferred two junior officers to Viesīte for the day to observe the exercises from the Latvian perspective and welcomed Viesīte’s executive officer aboard to help guide the exercise, as well as for lunch and a tour.

“The crew of Viesīte were great hosts, and being onboard provided valuable insight into the perspective that our Allies have when operating with the United States Navy,” said Ensign Benjamin Leaman, Auxiliaries Officer aboard Roosevelt. “All Navies operate differently, which means that we all have tactics and techniques that we can share– this was a great opportunity to work with and learn from the Latvian Navy.”

This was Roosevelt’s first time operating with the Latvian Navy while on her FDNF-E tour, and comes as the ship continues operations in the Baltic Sea alongside regional Allies and partners.

“Every chance we get to operate with our partner naval forces is invaluable,” said Cmdr. John Mastriani, Roosevelt’s commanding officer. “These exercises lay the groundwork for future operations and reinforce the strong allied partnerships that set NATO apart as a force for peace, stability, and deterrence.”

USS Roosevelt, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, began its fourth Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E) patrol Sept. 27 in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S., allied and partner interests.

For more than 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations